“The most successful ventures depend on that initial spark from angel investors,” Hoffman says. “Kiva’s model gives us all the ability to connect and make change possible for entrepreneurs around the world who have opportunity but lack capital.”

According to Premal Shah, Kiva president, in 2011 Kiva lenders funded nearly 125,000 loans totaling $90 million, with the average loan funded in just over 5 days.

“Our most popular loans tend to be to women farmers in Africa and Asia, where the benefits to enabling a woman to better provide for her family are obvious,” said Shah.

But not all borrowers gain funding quickly. Loans to women in Africa and Asia are popular, and so are loans for agricultural purposes, while the slowest funding loans tend to be to men in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.